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I have created a few accounts on my Linux Mint installation. A few of them have admin privileges. About 30 min ago I changed the password on one of the admin accounts using the Users Settings GUI. But I am still seeing the spinning circle. I have a few questions in that regard.

  • How long do I need to wait to ensure that the password has changed?
  • What will happen if I reboot the system while the GUI is still showing the spinning circle?
  • I try to change passwords every so often. How do I speed up the process the next time?
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    In a normal situation, password changes may take a second. Not minutes. Something else is wrong. Is there a "OK" or "are you sure" window open under the user settings gui? Try minimizing the top-window to see.
    – Ljm Dullaart
    Aug 31, 2021 at 10:22
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    It's possible your system believes that there is a directory services mechanism configured and is waiting for it to timeout.
    – Bib
    Aug 31, 2021 at 10:48
  • Multiple admin accounts? As in, multiple accounts with a userid of 0 (zero)?. If so, you are asking for trouble.
    – Bib
    Aug 31, 2021 at 12:17
  • @Bib not necessarily, they may simply have access to the sudo command for privilege escalation.
    – Thomas N
    Sep 8, 2021 at 21:57
  • Trusting the GUI to represent when they system is finished with a process is sometimes problematic: there may be any number of reasons that your interface is stuck in the "spinning" mode.
    – Thomas N
    Sep 8, 2021 at 22:03

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How long do I need to wait to ensure that the password has changed?

You don't, this shouldn't happen, something is wrong with your system. Password change should be instantaneous. Inspecting journalctl logs could help you understand what's going on.

What will happen if I reboot the system while the GUI is still showing the spinning circle?

If it's already taken so long, I am pretty sure some component has timed out/frozen and nothing bad will happen if you reboot.

I try to change passwords every so often. How do I speed up the process the next time?

Do it from console using passwd.

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    I lack rep to up-vote. Marking it as accepted. Yeah, I think going forward, passwd is the way to go. Thanks!
    – borejwaz
    Aug 31, 2021 at 23:41

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